Spar With Me
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: "Spar with me."


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: "Spar with me."

A/N: This is part of my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe and is set a few months after the end of _Revealed _and does contain a few spoilers for _Revealed_, so I recommend reading the main story arc but you can try to give it a whirl on its own.

**_Spar With Me_**

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

32 Frostmoon 1004

That boneheaded, overprotective, arrogant, egotistical Stallion was really starting to get on my nerves. I prepared myself for a real fight as I went to see Oreius. Enough was enough. I had had it with his over-protectiveness (he had truly surpassed himself in the last four months...I hadn't thought it possible, but he proved me wrong). I rapped on the doorframe of his study causing him to break off his conversation with Ardon. Ardon took one look at me and lit out of there as fast as he could manage without acting as if he was less than composed (smart of him). I crossed my arms and glared at the Kentauri, who just raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Katerina Alambiel?"

I was quite pleased with myself for not shouting at him in Irish considering how I was well on my way to being angry with him. Instead, I managed (barely) to keep my tone civil although my lilt was a bit thicker than usual as I responded, "I do be wondering if you ever intend to allow me to attend to my duties or have I been retired without so much as a proper farewell?"

"You're already attending to some of your duties and you can return to the rest when you are at full strength."

I stepped fully into his study and propped my hands on my hips, "The last time I brought the matter up you said it depended on Tuulea and Alithia both giving their permission for me to return to training. They gave permission three weeks ago and you have yet to allow me anywhere near the training yards."

He stared at me with one of the most unreadable looks that the Kentauri had ever given me, "And, what if you manage to hurt yourself again because you leapt back into training and your full duties too soon?"

I shrugged, "Then I suspect I shall be scolded by everyone and not allowed back until next summer." Which couldn't be any worse than what they already did when Edmund and I had been brought back from our little excursion with the mercenaries and a witch (Edmund had fared better than I did in the long run).

"This is not a joking matter, Katerina Alambiel."

I threw my hands up, "Then, what do you want from me, Oreius? I have behaved myself; what's more, I have waited three weeks before confronting you about the matter. You can only protect me so far because we both know I can't stand being left out of everything for very long and five months is very long for me."

He knew I was right. He also knew what I hadn't said (such as if I went stir-crazy from inactivity, the Cair probably wouldn't be in as good a shape as it was at that moment...oh, and I would take him to crazy land with me). Oreius still tried to resist though as he shook his head, "I want you to be patient. I am not fully convinced that it is a good idea for you start back to training yet."

I immediately responded with a simple "Spar with me."

"What?"

I shrugged a little and kept my tone nonchalant as I repeated, "Spar with me. You can judge for yourself whether I'm ready to go back to training and my full duties. If you decide I am not, I agree to wait until you're finally content to let me return. Besides, this way you don't have to worry about anyone else flattening me...you can just do it yourself."

He rolled his eyes at the last bit and I hid a grin because I knew I had him when he didn't immediately respond with a flat-out 'no' to my suggestion. Besides, I enjoyed sparring with Oreius. He sighed, "Very well, since I doubt you'll leave the matter alone, meet me at the gates in ten minutes."

I tilted my head slightly, "Does this mean you are going to give me back my armor and Chrysaor and my knives from wherever you stashed them?" Yes, the Kentauri had taken my armor, sword, and sai knives three days before Peter's birthday in Sunbend and hid them somewhere (according to Edmund, he has done this before when trying to keep his Human students from returning to training too soon after injuries were taken). All because he found me in the armory one morn (talking to Peter, not trying to sneak into training) and he decided he didn't like the one look I had given my armor and sword (just because I had been wishing I could get back to training already didn't mean I had to admit it to Oreius). Consequently, he took everything except one dagger (if only because I had been wearing it when he conducted his little raid) and I hadn't seen any of it since, much to the amusement of the Four, Ardon, Alithia, Sherket, Tuulea, etc.

He smirked as he moved around his desk, "Some of it, at the very least. And, no, you may not come with me to fetch it."

"Why not?"

He managed to keep a straight face as he replied, "Because I suspect I shall have need of it again and I do not want to find another hiding place."

I stuck my tongue out at him then hurried back to my rooms to change into a somewhat warmer tunic and leggings now that I knew we would go sparring. Although, I had to admit I had expected more of a fight to get the Kentauri to see reason, but never look a gift horse in a mouth applied to this situation. Not to mention, I was desperate to do something so I was willing to take whatever Oreius would give me.

Dressed in sparring-appropriate attire, I was waiting rather impatiently at the gates to Cair Paravel when Oreius finally showed up (what can I say, I had been soooo very bored). He looked at me and smirked when I couldn't quite hide my disappointment at how he may have been wearing his armor but mine was nowhere in sight. Even though it was Seventhday (and supposedly a day of rest) not one of the guards on duty so much as blinked an eye at the sight of Oreius leaving the Cair dressed in his armor with me walking alongside him...of course, I still didn't think the Kentauri completely understood the concept of taking a day off. However, I decided not to take the chance of irritating Oreius to the point of him changing his mind about sparring and did not mention it (I would mention it later).

Oreius led the way to one of the meadows that a small tributary of the Great River ran alongside. We had been here before, of course the last time we had come here to spar was when I had to prove I was completely fit after the stitches incident (Oreius has a bit of a theme to how he tests me in particular). This late in Frostmoon winter was nearly upon us, so it was brisk but the leaves hadn't completely fallen yet and Narnia was painted with the colors of fall, vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows from the trees to the ground. I loved it. Stopping in the middle of the meadow, Oreius turned and gave me a measuring look before he tossed me a wrapped leather bundle. I caught and quickly unwrapped my sai knives from my leather jerkin and cuirass. I was trying not grin (and failing spectacularly) as I pulled on the jerkin then laced up my cuirass. Finally.

Oreius unsheathed only one of his one-handed swords while I unsheathed both of my knives and dropped into a half-crouch. I had no doubt Oreius was only using his one-handed sword instead of his claymore because that was how he was going to "go easy" on me, but that actually was all right by me (hey, I admit I was just a tad out of practice due to my long recovery period with limited physical activity).

Oreius lunged forward with a battle cry as his sword came swinging down towards my head. I dodged to the side and slashed at his sword arm, forcing him to break off both his charge and his next attack. I had to control my natural inclination to run forward and duck under his guard, but almost immediately had to leap back as Oreius caught my knives with his sword and thrust back before following through with a backhanded slash. Oreius launched a furious series of attacks that were proving tricky for me block without falling into his favorite trap and this was in spite of the fact that we were not going at full speed yet. I was forced to leap backward and then over Oreius' blade in quick succession, but then I countered with three rapid strikes, trying to catch him in a slip-up. He dodged to my right and I instinctively threw my upper body back allowing the sword to whistle through the air above me. Only the slightest twinge in my back accompanied that move.

I straightened and whirled to my left, his right, bringing my right knife at angle toward his currently unprotected flank. He leapt to the side and swung his sword back, catching the edge of my knife then slanting up forcing my own hand to follow. I quickly brought my other knife around and knocked his sword away before he could take a swing at my vulnerable middle. I darted out of range, keeping my knives at the ready, as we circled each other searching for an opening. My hair was starting to fall out of the pinned style Tuulea had done earlier that morn, which disguised its current much shorter length of just brushing my shoulders. But, I ignored it in favor of watching Oreius' every move as I presently had my back to the water and I did _not_ want to end up in it this time. We circled once more and then, as soon as I had my back to the trees, I charged. He brought his sword around to try to force me into breaking off my attack. Instead, I caught his sword in the crux of my crossed knives and shoved up with all my strength. Less than a heartbeat later, I uncrossed my knives and dodged forward to smack a blow against the unprotected area just above his vambrace, which would have crippled his sword arm if this had been a true fight.

Following the parameters of training, Oreius dropped his sword and I lunged forward in an attempt to end our bout with him declared 'dead'. Oreius had other plans. He blocked my next blow by knocking his wrist against mine, which definitely stung since he was wearing his vambraces and I was not wearing mine. I ducked under the next swipe and my hair chose that moment to break free of the hairpins. I was half-blinded by the hair suddenly swinging forward into my eyes and I barely jumped aside in time to avoid being declared 'dead' myself. I was silently wishing a number of poxes on flea-bitten, idiot, creepy, yellow-bellied mercenaries who hack women's hair off even as I blew my hair out of my eyes and took another swipe at Oreius. It didn't work. He grabbed my right hand and applied enough pressure that I had to drop the knife or risk injury. I brought my left knife up and around in an attempt to score a hit that would force him to let me go, but he easily demonstrated why I had been pounding the litany of an unarmed and injured opponent does not mean you are safe into Lucy from the moment I first started training her. He caught my left wrist with his right hand and knocked the knife away, which left me in the very bad position of having no knives and both wrists caught by my opponent who was much bigger than I.

What happened next was unexpected because I thought Oreius would toss me back before pinning me with his left-hand sword and declaring me dead (and insane) or toss me into the stream and declare me dead (and insane). Instead, I was taken completely by surprise. Oreius pulled me closer and then, in one swift move, he had us both on the ground with me pinned firmly by his arm, his hand braced against my collarbone, while he cushioned my head with his other hand (Alithia would have killed us both if he had to drag me to her to fix a concussion of all things). I didn't know he could move that way and that fast, so to say I was surprised actually fell a bit short of the mark...more like stunned. We were both breathing hard as we had picked up speed until that last move, but I still managed to glare at him. "What...what did you do that for?"

I tried to pull his hand off my collarbone (I think it moved a whole millimeter) and reach the knife closest to me at the same time. But, the Kentauri killed that plan as he settled his elbow more firmly into my abdomen (just enough to keep me immobile without actually hurting me) as he moved the hand that had been under my head to capture both my wrists and pin them above my head. "Do you want the short list or the long list, Katerina Alambiel?"

I rolled my eyes at him as I tried to think of a way to get out of the mess I had landed in, "Was that supposed to be a joke, Oreius, or was it sarcasm? I can't tell from here."

He snorted in reply as I took inventory of my situation...he had my torso and arms immobile and he was wearing vambraces so I couldn't bite him (I'm not saying if I would have if he hadn't been wearing them). I had one knee braced against his torso, which was about a half a foot above me (no pun intended) and the other was... Well, I immediately fell back on a slight variation of one of my preferred moves for getting Oreius to let go when he caught me during training (it had a one in twenty chance, which was better than the odds I usually gave my plans). I shifted my unoccupied foot, kicked at him, and my boot thudded against his armor (attempt one out of the twenty I had guessed...Murphy was not on my side), Oreius raised an eyebrow and I decided to do it again on the off chance the second time would be the charm. Amazingly, it was and Oreius grunted as my boot connected just below his ribs in the gap between his armor, "That was not very nice, Sepphora."

He used my title and it was Seventhday. That was not allowed, but I didn't remind him of it. Instead, I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him (yes, I did realize that probably wasn't the best thing to do when pinned to the ground by an adult Centaur with a whole seven inches between us, but I couldn't help myself) before I retorted, "Neither was pinning me with your elbow digging into my belly."

He smirked as he leaned a little closer (the concept of personal space does not exist during sparring matches in case you couldn't tell). "If you do not like it, perhaps you should remember that to stay alert means you never take your eyes off your opponent, hmm?"

I rolled my eyes again and wiggled my wrists, "All right, I made a slight miscalculation in judgment. Are you going to let go?"

He grinned, "Are you yielding?"

I smiled back at him as I cheerfully replied, "Well, actually I was thinking that you would yield because I did disarm you before you decided it would be a good idea to tackle and squash me. I won the match, you yield, you let me up, and I won't hold it against you that you tackled me after the match was already over."

Oreius laughed but he didn't let me up. Spoilsport. He shook his head at me with a grin. "Only you, Katerina Alambiel, could be pinned to the ground with no chance of getting out of your situation and then say that _I_ am the one who should yield the match. And, a glancing blow does not end a match. Not to mention there's the fact that you have yet to land a killing blow. So, unless you want to stay here all night, I suggest you yield with dignity...you do have some left, do you not?"

I almost laughed aloud at how easily we echoed many of our past training sessions and even a few demonstrations from when I was teaching Lucy. Instead, I settled for coating my words with enough sarcasm even Oreius couldn't miss it. "Oh, how wonderful, the Kentauri tells jokes now. I'm not sure that's an improvement, by the way. And, as _tempting_ an idea as it would be to stay here with your elbow digging into my stomach, I have other things to do. So, I shall surrender but I do so under protest."

A soft twitter of a giggle echoed from the edge of the glade. Oreius and I never moved from our positions as we both scanned the area only to find nothing and no one watching us. It must have been someone passing by, probably a Bird...hopefully, not a busybody though because Aslan only knew what kind of crackpot story they would put to a simple sparring match. The leaves beneath me crunched a little as I wiggled my wrists once again before I looked up at Oreius and rolled my eyes, "Will you let me up already, Kentauri? You are heavy, you know."

He let go of my wrists and I immediately set my hands on his shoulders and lightly pushed against them as he shifted his weight completely off me as he straightened, but I just smiled at him when he looked at me to check if I was hurt or upset. I had had a bad summer, but those events did not affect my absolute trust in him. Oreius rose to his feet then reached down and hauled me to mine. I tossed him his sword before I picked up my knives and slipped them back into their sheaths. He rubbed the spot where I had kicked him, "I think you might have left a bruise, Katerina Alambiel."

I had no pity for him and just rolled my eyes as I scanned the leaf-covered ground in the vain hope of spotting some of my hairpins. "I'm going to say the same thing I said the first time you complained of such a thing after one of our sparring matches: Good and you deserve it."

He rolled his eyes but didn't take the bait. "What are you looking for?"

"My hairpins."

He shook his head as he stepped closer, "You'll have no luck finding them out here. Unless, you brought someone like a Raccoon to do the actual looking."

I laughed, "Oh yes, like Atuki needs a trip outside the Cair...can you imagine the trouble he would find?"

Oreius chuckled, "I'm sure I could never imagine what he might get into out here." He looked me over (happily I had already caught my breath and was no longer panting), then he smiled and reached for my head. He pulled his hand back holding a red leaf, "You have a number of these caught in your hair."

I immediately began combing my fingers through my hair as I met his gaze, "Your verdict?"

He sighed, "Report for training tomorrow morn at fifth hour. We'll see how you do with training for a week and then I will decide whether you can resume your full duties."

I smiled up at him, "Thank you." Then, I gestured to my hair after I finished combing my fingers through it, "Did I get them all out?"

He plucked a few more small pieces of leaves out of my hair as he grumbled under his breath, "It's not as though you would have behaved yourself if I had decided against you starting back again."

I smirked up at him, "Exactly, Kentauri." He snorted but didn't say anything so I teased him as we started walking back toward Cair Paravel. "Oh, come on, Oreius, admit it. You like sparring with me."

"Hmm, perhaps."

I scoffed, "Perhaps? That's what you're going with? Well, I'm insulted."

He smirked, "No, you are not. You are simply being a cheeky, annoying, insane little pest again in an attempt to get a rise out of me."

I just shrugged, "Sure enough." No reason to deny it when it was completely true. Oreius laughed and I had to join him. I had gotten what I wanted and we both had fun over the course of getting it. I was more than a little sore, but I was happy because it was getting easier to laugh again. I still hadn't told Oreius about how the way he had tackled me had reminded me of the occurrences in a very specific trick the witch Medea had tried to pull on me when she and the mercenaries held me prisoner. That was the one part of the ordeal that I hadn't told anyone about, but I saw no reason to bring it up when it had been pointless and ineffective anyway. Shoving the stray memory aside, I focused on bantering with Oreius further as we walked. Besides, sparring with Oreius, be it with weapons or verbally, was far more pleasant and entertaining than dwelling on a Witch and her tricks.

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

**Please Read and Review! Just some rather fluffy fun for Oreius and Kat (because they're the kind of weirdos who find sparring to be a fun pastime lol). Let me know what y'all thought of it.**


End file.
